


The Right Way

by grapenight



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-26
Updated: 2014-07-26
Packaged: 2018-02-10 11:54:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2024154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grapenight/pseuds/grapenight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Still, the fact that he preferred the boys over any girl had to stay a secret.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Right Way

"Who are you going to ask to Homecoming?" Lindsay asked at lunch, nudging Gavin with her arm. 

Gavin laughed and looked around at his friends. Lindsay was dating Michael, so as long as Gavin didn't want his nose broken, he wasn't going to ask her. Beside her, there was Barbara, who he could ask, but even if he didn't, he knew someone would. Barbara was a pretty girl with an amazing humor, she could get a date just by blinking her eyes a couple times. But he also knew he would have an amazing time if he went with her. He stuck that in his mind, but moved on. Those two girls were really the only girls he was friends with and would feel completely comfortable with. There were certainly other girls, though, there was no shortage of them. His accent and overall charm attracted many, many girls. He could walk up to almost any girl in the room and he would get an immediate yes. There had even been several girls who had asked him out before, all of which he politely declined, and then had a laugh with them so they didn't feel completely down and out. 

Gavin knew he was popular, he knew he was good looking enough for his accent and humor to get him almost any girl he wanted, but he wasn't rude about it. He didn't look down on the girls who asked him out, he really did feel bad for denying all of them. He said no to every girl who asked, and yet he didn't have a girlfriend or any good reason to deny every one of them, and he wished he could just play along and say yes. The girls who asked him out just were not what Gavin wanted, but the reason behind that was for Gavin to know and for everyone else to never, ever consider. Because in reality, Gavin would prefer to date Michael before any of the girls, and Michael was his best friend who would more than likely beat him up if he ever made a move on him. Gavin would never try anything like that, and Michael and Lindsay were a happy couple, so he was able to move on easily. 

Still, the fact that he preferred the boys over any girl had to stay a secret. He wasn't about to fuck up the semi-perfect life he had. When he was at home a few years ago, before his parents uprooted his life to come to America, he was nothing. He would watch the popular kids with envy, wondering when he would get a chance to be as happy as they were. Then, he had to move, and he got a fresh chance, and was somehow immediately accepted in the popular group with a few witty jokes and a smile brighter than the stars. He had happily stayed in his place since then, and the happiness and acceptance he got from that was more than worth having to keep a bit of himself a secret. 

He smiled back at Lindsay, "I'll just have to see who catches my interest." 

 

 

"Who is going to play GTA with me tonight?" Geoff asked from the opposite side of the cafeteria and the social ladder. 

"I'm in," Ray said around bites of his sandwich. He would be up for almost any kind of game, he really didn't care what it was. 

Jack nodded also showing he was in. 

"I'll see," was all that Ryan said, but the other boys didn't really expect anything else from him. 

"Oh, shit, wait, what time were you planning to do it?" Ray asked, suddenly remembering that his mom was forcing him to volunteer at the youth center, because it 'looked good on college applications'. Ray couldn't really care less about that, and he wasn't even sure if he wanted to go to college, but he knew better than to argue with his mom, because she had made up her mind and there would be no changing it. "I've got to help out at the youth center thing tonight until seven. Mom's making me." 

"That's fucking lame. We can wait until you get home. Or we can start without you and you can just join later," Geoff said, standing up with his empty tray to go throw it away. Ray looked as his own tray and decided to walk with Geoff. 

Ray was a baby, but he hated walking all the way across the cafeteria to throw his trash away, especially when he was alone. The jocks and other various 'cool kids' sat near the trash cans, and he knew he was easy pray, barely breaking a hundred pounds. 

Geoff didn't have the same fears, he literally didn't give two shits what people thought and no one would consider beating Geoff up, because he'd win. It was things like that which made Ray completely happy with his choice of friends, even if they were losers. They were happy, and as long as they didn't interact with anyone else, they were safe. Ray was perfectly aware of the social structure, and he knew to obey it's rules as not to face the punishments of disobeying. He stayed quiet and out of the popular kids way. It worked pretty well, but he still had the fear of getting beaten up still lingered. He knew that sometimes he could do everything right, and some kid twice his size would beat him up simply for the enjoyment. So he stuck close to Geoff's side. 

"What are you going to have to do tonight?" Geoff asked as they walked past tables full of other students. 

"I don't know, hopefully something easy. If they make me watch children or something, I'll probably cry. I can't handle that responsibility, I can barely take care of myself, my mom does most of the work," Ray replied. 

"Yeah, that's true, I've seen your mom in action. It's amazing," Geoff said, smirking at Ray. 

"Shut up." 

"Are you going to find yourself a cute boyfriend there?" Geoff continued. 

"I'm working at the youth center, Geoff, not a gay club or something. Besides, the only youth that's there are probably twelve year olds or some shit," Ray answered. He was completely out to anyone who cared, which was mostly his friends and his parents. He wouldn't lie about it, but no one really cared enough to notice. He didn't like to hide who he was, though. His friends were completely cool with it, too, and he was glad he had they friends he did. For example, he walked by the table Michael Jones and his friends were sitting at. They were they type of people who would beat someone up because of their sexuality. He couldn't stand being on of them, not that he'd want to be. He only looked over briefly, but it was enough to see them all laughing brightly. He stared back down at the tray in his hands and continued walking. Okay, so maybe he was lying a little bit. It would be awesome to be at the top of the ladder, and to be the person people looked at in envy. 

But his life and his friends were awesome as they were, and he would never trade them for anything. 

"I'm just saying, there will probably be other volunteers there, right? And if not, I think there's a swim team based out of there. Like, kids out age. In swimsuits. You know they only wear speedos for competitive swimming? At least one those kids had got to like boys," Geoff rambled on as they threw their trash away. A blonde girl looked at them, scandalized by what Geoff was saying. 

Ray shrugged in apology at the girl, who was in his math class or something like that. 

Geoff, on the other hand, didn't let it go, "What? Do you have a problem with people being gay? Because if so, I've got a problem with you." 

He even accentuated his anger by pushing up his sleeves, which caused the girl to run off. 

"That was a bit much, Geoff," Ray said as they traveled back through the cafeteria. 

Geoff patted him on the back, "I've just got your back, buddy. You're to great of a kid for anyone to screw you over just because of who you like. I'm not going to stand for that." 

Ray smiled, even though he was completely embarrassed. Geoff was the best, Jack was the best, and even fucking Ryan was the best, even though he was suspicious at best. His friends rocked. 

 

 

 

Gavin hopped in his mom's car after school and waved goodbye to Barbara, who had walked outside with him. She smiled and flipped him off, which his mom didn't notice. Gavin returned the gesture by sticking his tongue out, and then sat forward in his seat. After a few minutes, he noticed they weren't taking the normal route home. 

"Where are we headed? Are we getting ice cream? That would be top," Gavin questioned. 

His mom shook her head. "No, I volunteered you to help out at the youth center. It'll be a great experience." 

Gavin stared at her. The youth center? He didn't want to waste his afternoon there. 

"Don't be like that, Gavin, I know what you're thinking. Like I said, it'll be a good experience, and it just might make you a better person." 

Gavin sighed and slid down in his seat. He really didn't want to have to do whatever it was they would make him. 

They pulled in front of a building Gavin could honestly say he had never been in, even with living in the town for two years. He would have preferred to keep it that way. Before he could even go inside the place, there were children of all ages heading in there. He had no idea why someone would choose to spend their afternoons there, or what they would do. 

His mom pulled into a spot and turned of the car, and Gavin reluctantly got out. They entered the building and his mother walked straight up to the front desk, introducing herself and pulling Gavin up beside her. Gavin looked around at the room he was in, wide and spacious, with chairs in couches in one section of the room, along with vending machines. He could see kids walking around, some in swimsuits, all with a purpose, all heading some where. Gavin wished he could be heading home. 

 

 

Ray sat a small room that had only a file cabinet, a table and chairs. He had gotten to the youth center and was immediately assigned to filing paper work, because evidently he looked as incapable with handling children as he was. He had only been there fifteen minutes, so he barely had any progress with the huge stack of paper in front of him. All he had to do was write down the names of all the papers and then stack them in alphabetical order he was already bored. He had chose a seat in the back of the room, far away from the door, but facing it so he could see if anyone came in. Because of this, he was fully aware when Sally, the lady who made Ray do the paper work in the first place, walked in. He was surprised she was back so soon, paperwork really didn't take that much checking up on. But then he saw someone enter behind Sally, and he immediately tensed up. 

He knew the kid who was standing in the room with him, he was all to aware of who Gavin Free was. Everyone loved Gavin, the foreign thing worked really well on his end. He had rose to be one of the most popular kids in the school, and his best friend was Michael Jones. He was exactly the person Ray would run away from to avoid getting beaten up. Gavin probably couldn't do too much damage to Ray, he was just about as small, but he could have Michael do any physical work for him if he wanted, and he would probably have no problem fucking Ray up mentally. 

Gavin was hot, Ray had no problem seeing why ninety percent of the girls lusted after him. Ray could have easily been one of those girls, but because of his situation, he knew better. Gavin was hot and straight, and for boys like Ray, that could only lead to pain. 

"This is Gavin, and he's going to help you out with all that paper work! Isn't that great? I'm sure you two will have a ball," Sally said, just as overexcited as she had been earlier. She was probably really good at working with the small children. "And this is Ray." 

Gavin didn't even bother to look up at Ray as they were introduced. he has his eyes trained on his stupid tennis shoes. 

"Hi," Ray said, to be polite. 

Gavin didn't respond. Sally looked a bit down by the boys behavior, but she brightened up, probably thinking that the best would come from the situation. Ray was dubious. 

"Okay, well, Ray can explain what to do, and I'll let you guys get to it!" Sally said, waltzing out of the room. Gavin stood completely still in his spot by the door, still refusing to look up. 

Ray knew Gavin wasn't introverted, and was very personable, he was in classes with Gavin, he could light up a room. Apparently Ray wasn't good enough to receive that kind of attention. He didn't really blame Gavin for that, he knew where he stood. He just never expected to be the most talkative one out of the two of them. 

"You don't have to do any of the filing, I can handle it, it's not really that hard," Ray offered, trying to loosen up the mood in the room. 

Gavin sighed, finally looking away from the floor and to Ray's face, "No, I can help. I don't want to be a prick." 

He followed that by plopping down in the seat right beside Ray, even though he had a whole table of chairs to choose from. "Sorry, I just didn't want to be here, my mum forced me. I've got no reason to take that out on you. How do we do this filing?" 

Gavin was beginning to behave more like how he did in school. "I understand, my mom's making me be here, too. And it's easy, we just have to write down the names and them put them in alphabetical order." 

Gavin nodded, "We're together in our desire to not be here, awesome." 

Ray wrote down all the names while Gavin organized, and it was a pretty fast system. Gavin chatted the whole time, polar opposite from when he entered the room. Ray followed suit, although he was cautious, not wanting to say anything to make Gavin angry. Ray was surprised that he didn't actually mind talking to Gavin, which he had never done before, even with all the classes they had together. 

 

 

Gavin left the youth center in a much better mood than when he arrived there. He even waved goodbye to Sally with a grin, which caused he to smile in return, excited by the fact that she was correct in saying that Ray and Gavin would have a good time. 

Gavin was surprised he had actually had so much fun talking to Ray. Ray had a very strange sense of humor that was absolutely magnetic. He was kind of amazing. When Gavin first saw him in his glasses and t-shirt, he looked a little bit familiar, and he spent the entire time trying to place him, but he couldn't think of a single person named Ray he knew. He must've just been one of those people who appear familiar. Nonetheless, Gavin couldn't wait to hang out with Ray again. 

He jumped into the car, still smiling. "When can I go back?" He asked, much to his mother's surprise. 

 

 

Ray turned on his Xbox as soon as he got home, not wasting any time. Ten minutes later, he was in GTA with his friends. 

"Hey, look at that, good guy Ray is back from his volunteering!" Jack said. 

Ray laughed, "Yeah, I'm just a good Samaritan, you know, making you guys look like shit." 

"Did you pick up a boyfriend?" Geoff asked, not forgetting his comments from earlier. 

"Of course not. I only saw two guys in speedos, and while I didn't really look that hard for them, they really didn't look very gay," Ray responded. He was in his little room almost the whole thing, he only saw the guys heading into the pool as he was leaving. 

"How would you know?" Ryan asked. 

"Um, I don't know, maybe because I'm gay and I can recognize it in others?" Ray said. 

"Still, you have no idea how they really are, you were just guessing," Ryan continued. 

"Yeah, but I would rather have an incorrect guess than to make a fool of myself. Besides, even if one of them was gay, I wouldn't have the first clue on how to get them to date me. And swimmers have to shave all their hair off. I like guys for a reason, the hair is a selling point," Ray informed them. 

"Oh god, that's too much information," Jack said. 

"You guys were bothering me about it, that's what you get. Anyways, do you guys want to quit bothering me and get back to the game?" Ray suggested, and they did. 

An hour later, the subject of Ray's volunteering came up again. 

"You'd never guess who was volunteering with me," Ray said as he zipped around cars. "Gavin Free." 

"No way," Geoff said. 

"Yeah, he was filing paper work with me. At first he was a total bitch and wouldn't even look at me, but then he warmed up, and was actually pretty cool. His mom forced him to be there, of course." 

"And he's not a dick?" 

"No, not really, which was surprising." 

"But he would never actually talk to you in school, would he?" Geoff asked. 

"Of course not. Wouldn't want to ruin his reputation," Ray said. 

 

 

The next day was Thursday, and Gavin was in a very good mood at the beginning of the day. 

"Michael!" he called out, throwing an arm around his shoulder. "What a joy, it's been too long since I've seen you." 

Michael laughed, "Yeah, one night is far too long." 

Gavin nodded and sat down at the table in front of them. The bell wouldn't ring for another fifteen minutes, so they would just have ot wait around until then. Gavin looked around the room, looking for someone else interesting to join them. A head of dark brown hair caught his eye, and when the person turned around, he saw it was Ray. 

"Ray!" He called out waving. When he didn't notice him, Gavin stood up. "I'll be right back," Gavin said to Michael. Michael nodded and looked down at his phone, typing out something. 

Gavin walked over to Ray, calling out his name. He had no idea that Ray went to his school, but that explains why he looked familiar. The third time he called his name caught his attention. 

Ray looked around quickly, like a startled animal, before seeing Gavin heading his way, saying his name. 

Gavin smiled, and began to say something, but before he could continue, Ray took off, leaving Gavin alone and confused. Gavin shook it off, thinking that Ray must not have seen him, and ignored the part of him that was saying that Ray did see him, and that's why he ran off. Gavin couldn't tell why he was so interested in the boy who he hadn't even noticed until last night. 

 

 

The next time Ray volunteered was Friday afternoon, and he was torn between hoping Gavin would be there and hoping Gavin wouldn't be there. He had attempted to talk to him in school the morning before, which showed that Gavin obviously had no idea who Ray was, and who his friends were. 

Sally lead him to the same room, and gave him an even bigger stack of papers. They apparently had enough paperwork to last Ray quite awhile. 

Ray threw himself into the work, and didn't even notice the door had opened until Gavin sat down beside him. Ray looked up from the papers to see Gavin smiling brightly. 

"I tried to talk to you yesterday, but you must not have seen me. I didn't even know we went to the same school," Gavin said conversationally. 

"I did," Ray commented before he could stop himself. He looked back down at his papers. 

"Oh," Gavin said, lost for words. He began picking up his area of the work. 

"Yeah. There's a reason you don't know who I am. I'm not cool, I'm actually very, very lame. I barely hanging on at the bottom of the social ladder, while you are up so high you don't even need the ladder anymore. So there's a reason you shouldn't talk to me. you don't want to ruin your reputation," Ray said, begin completely upfront with Gavin. 

Gavin stared at Ray, the boy he hoped he was becoming friends with. They shouldn't let status get in the way of a good friendship. But then Gavin thought about it, and how hard he worked to keep himself where he was, what he hid and what he did, and he realized, that yeah, maybe status was important. It almost pained him to think that he couldn’t be friends with the boy who he clicked with so easily, though. 

"We can still hang out here, though, right? We're both useless little smegs here," Gavin said, smiling towards Ray. 

Ray thought about it, and then smiled back. "I guess there isn't really anything stopping us." 

 

 

At the beginning, they both volunteered twice a week. As time went on, and they got closer and closer, they started going every other day. Gavin found himself stupidly happy on the days he volunteered. His friends questioned it occasionally, but after awhile they just accepted that Gavin was weirdly happy every other day. He was strange to begin with, ti really wasn't that big of a deal. 

Gavin learned he had a class with Ray, and he didn't notice for awhile because Ray sat behind him and never really said anything. They had a seat change, though, and Ray ended up sitting right across from Gavin. He found himself smiling and staring at Ray far more often than he should have, but he never said anything to him. They had their boundaries, but there was no harm at looking at Ray. It was fun. 

"Why do you stare me down everyday in History? It's weird," Ray said one afternoon as they were in their conference room, chilling. They had been serious about doing the paper work for the first two weeks, but then they realized the more they did, the more they would get, so they spent more time talking and goofing off, and did the bare minimum amount of paperwork. 

"You're just so cute, Ray!" Gavin laughed, pinching Ray's cheek. 

Ray paused for a second, recovering from Gavin's touch, before saying, "Yeah, I'm sure that's it. You're probably just plotting something." 

"I would never do that!" Gavin defended, pushing Ray, almost knocking him out of his chair. 

"Yes, you would. You're almost always thinking of how you can mess up any given situation and make it more interesting for you." 

Gavin smiled, "How do you know that?" 

Ray smiled back at him, "I know you, Gav, you're a little bitch." 

Out in the lobby, squealing could be heard from the room Ray and Gavin were in. Sally laughed to herself, glad that the two boys had become such good friends. 

 

 

  
"You know that nerdy kid named Ray? He hangs out with creepy Geoff and that crazy Ryan kid?" Michael asked the table one day at lunch. 

Gavin's ears poked up immediately at Ray's name, and he knew Michael had to be talking about his Ray, because even though he wouldn't admit it, he did pay a lot of attention to Ray, even when they were in school and he should be ignoring him. He still paid so much attention to him, and he knew who he was friends with, Geoff, Jack, and Ryan, who were all amazingly weird in their own way. 

"Yeah, I think I have a class with him," Barbara said from her seat beside Lindsay. They had a big table and a lot of friends at that table, but the conversation was only really between Michael, Lindsay, Barbara, and Gavin. 

"I heard he's gay. He doesn't really look much like it, but if you pay attention, I guess you can see it. Isn't that weird?" Michael said, and Gavin tensed up. It felt like the world was moving around him, and he had no option but to go along for the ride, even if it pained him. He just had to sit and watch it happen. 

"No way," Lindsay said. "I know who you're talking about, that's so strange." 

Gavin's ears began to betray him, and he wanted to keep listening, but shock pulled him into his head, and he was stuck there. His friends would never accept him if he told him the truth, they would never, ever understand, and that really hurt, but he knew it was coming. 

What he didn't see coming was Ray. Ray. Gavin's heart pumped hard. If the rumors were true, then that meant that Ray was like Gavin. Ray would understand. For some reason Ray always understood. Ray was amazing. And then his friends were ridiculing him, just because he liked boys. He didn't deserve that. 

Gavin was trapped in his thoughts for the rest of the day, although his friends didn't make the connection of what exactly was bothering him, they just watched from a distance, confused. 

He almost skipped volunteering that night, he didn't want to be around Ray when he was thinking so hard, and he needed more time to think, but he also considered that if his friends knew about Ray, then apparently it was going around. He might need some support, and Gavin had no idea if he ever got any of that. His friends were weird, and Gavin had never really met any of them, but he hoped they were at least there for him. Ray deserved that, he deserved the best. 

Gavin found himself going anyways, unable to leave Ray alone. He walked straight into their room and was met by Ray's smile. "Hi, Gav," he said. 

Gavin couldn't stop himself from staring. Ray was adorable, his black glasses perched on his face, his captivating smile, his hair, everything about him. And he was gay, or the rumor mill said so. Gavin saw his options, and he barely considered anything before he grabbed Ray's hand and pulled him up. 

Rays smile faltered a bit with confusion, which only grew as time passed. Gavin let go of his hand and reached up, softly grabbing Ray's face in his hands. Ray was lost. 

Gavin stared into Ray's eyes, trying to judge his reaction, but all he could see was confusion, even though at this point, it was pretty obvious what Gavin was about to do. Gavin decided to go ahead and do it, pulling Ray's face in to meet his. 

Gavin kissed him softly, not wanting to scare him. Ray waited a few moments out of confusion before his instincts took over and he kissed Gavin back. Gavin let one of his hands fall to Ray's hip, keeping him grounded, while the other stayed on his cheek, softly stroking it. Ray let his hands dangle uselessly at his side for awhile before he gave in and grabbed the front of Gavin's shirt. 

Gavin loved the feeling of Ray kissing him back and Ray grabbing his shirt. Ray was just as into it as Gavin was. Gavin's chest filled with hope. 

They pulled away for air, but Gavin still kept a close hold on Ray, moving his other hand down to his hip also, and Ray didn't let go of Gavin's shirt, although, he did loosed his grip so he didn't mess up the shirt. 

"The rumors are true, then?" Gavin asked, not knowing what else to say. 

Ray's eyes widened in fear, and his heart fluttered. Was Gavin just playing a trick on him to test his sexuality? Was that all the kiss was? He thought about the kiss though, and the passion Gavin put behind it, and doubted it was a trick. 

"Yeah. I'm a little gay," Ray replied. 

Gavin smiled and tugged Ray close again, "So am I." 

Ray kissed Gavin this time. It was quick, but the action made Gavin's stomach flip around anxiously. 

"What are we doing?" Gavin asked as they parted, wanting to establish whatever relationship they had from the beginning. 

"I don't know," Ray replied, completely letting go of Gavin's shirt and smoothing it down on his chest. "You kissed me." 

Ray was going to have that established from the beginning. He did not spring a kiss on Gavin, oh no, it was Gavin who made the first move. Ray wanted to know the reason behind it. 

"Well, I like you, Ray. You're a wonderful friend and we go together so well, and when I found out you were gay, I just saw the opportunity and took it. I don't want to lose your friendship, but I'd love to keep up the kissing too. You could be my boyfriend, if you want to," Gavin offered. 

Ray thought about it. He'd never had a boyfriend before, and he's always wanted one, and he had to admit, Gavin would be perfect for it. Besides the one, huge problem; there's no way they could be open about their relationship, especially not at school. Gavin had his reputation, that reputation so important that he couldn't even be friends with Ray at school. But Ray did understand that Gavin worked hard for his popularity and sacrificed a lot, especially if he had been hiding his sexuality from everyone. That's hard to do, Ray knew that from experience. Ray decided that having a relationship with Gavin outside of school was worth having to be strangers in school. The school day was only part of the day, it always ended, they could always be with each other outside of school. 

"I'm going to say yes because I really like you. I know we can't be out at school, I still can't even talk to you there, I understand, I can handle that much, but I have to tell my friends. I can't hide stuff from them. There's only three of them, they won't tell anyone else, nobody even talks to us to begin with. Are you okay with that?" Ray asked, looking Gavin straight in the eyes. 

Gavin nodded, surprised that Ray was totally accepting of mostly secret relationship.He didn't even have to say anything about that, Ray knew. It was only fair that Ray was able to tell his friend if he had to hide what they had just for Gavin's popularity. Gavin kissed Ray in thanks for being so wonderful, and then he took Ray's hand, his boyfriend's hand, and held it in his own, just so they felt connected and safe. They slid to the floor, still hand in hand, and talked for the rest of the volunteering session, never doing a bit of work. 

 

 

 

"I have to tell you guys something," Ray said to his friends at lunch. Ryan fiddled around with his lunch, but looked up. Jack looked at him, fully paying attention, and Geoff nodded, showing he was listening. 

"I've got a boyfriend," Ray said, trying hard to hide his smile. 

"No fucking way," Geoff said, suddenly completely intrigued by the conversation. "How is this the first time I've heard of this? I didn't even know there was anyone you were interested in." 

"You guys knew about him. We just thought he was straight," Ray hinted. 

"Gavin?" Ryan asked, putting the pieces together quickly. "Oh god, you talked about him like he hung the stars in the sky or something, it's got to be him. 

Ray couldn't hide his smile anymore. 

Geoff stared at him, amazed, "But he refuses to even acknowledge that he knows you in public. How are you dating?" 

Geoff's words cut through Ray's momentary happiness. There situation did suck, but Ray understood why it had to be the way it was. "I get why he can't, I can't ruin everything he's worked hard for. It's hard not being accepted in school, I know that from experience. He's got a good life, and he's had to sacrifice a lot for it. I'm fine with the secret stuff. I like him too much." 

Geoff nodded, "Okay, but don't think I won't kick his ass if he ever fucks with you." 

Ray doubted him, but nodded anyways. 

 

 

"What are you doing after this?" Gavin asked Ray one day as they were sitting together at the youth center, sorting papers. 

"I'm going to go home. Probably eat dinner, play some games, maybe do some homework. Same as always," Ray answered. 

Gavin slid his chair over so he was right beside Ray. He placed his hand on Ray knee and kissed his cheek. "I think we should hang out. Outside of here. Maybe at your house, if you want?" 

Ray smiled a turned to face Gavin, "You know, that doesn't sound that bad," he said as he kissed Gavin. 

They finished their work and left, waving goodbye to Sally. Gavin had told his mom not to pick him up, and both boys got in the back of Ray's mom's car. 

"Hi, I'm Gavin, is okay if I come over and hang out with Ray?" Gavin asked as soon as he got in the car, before Ray even had the chance to say anything. 

Mrs. Narvaez laughed and said, "Yes, that's absolutely fine." 

"Thanks, Mom," Ray replied. 

When they got to Ray's house, Ray immediately led them up to his room. 

"That was a little sketchy, wasn't it?" Gavin asked once Ray shut his bedroom door. "Your mom knows you're gay, doesn't she?" 

Ray nodded and sat down on his bed, motioning for Gavin to follow. "She doesn't know we're dating, I haven't said anything about it to her." 

Gavin stopped in his path towards Ray's bed, surprised. "You mean you haven't told her anything about us? Why not?" 

"You don't want people to know, I understand that. I told my friends, like I said I would, but I haven't told anyone else." 

Guilt crawled around in Gavin's stomach and he finished his walk to Ray's bed and took on of Ray's hands in his. "You can tell your mom, silly, please don't keep big things like that from your own mother just because of me. Sometimes you need to be less selfless." 

Ray took his hand out of Gavin's and out his arms around his middle and rested his head on Gavin's shoulder, hugging him. "Thank you, Gav." 

Gavin returned his boyfriend's hug and said, "You're welcome, love." 

 

 

"Who are you taking to the Valentine's day dance, Gavin? Or are you going to skip this one, too?" Lindsay asked at lunch. 

"You should really go this time, Homecoming was fun, I promise," Barbara added. 

Gavin looked around at his friends again, and the other people that were around him. He didn't want to take any of them to the dance. He wanted to take Ray. 

He imagined them going to the dance, laughing at how ridiculous each of them were, and also about how much the music sucked. He imagined Michael and Lindsay chatting to Geoff and his date, and Barbara laughing with Ryan and Jack. People stared at Ray and Gavin, but no one said one mean word to them, or any of their friends. Girls squealed about how cute of a couple they were, and hid their inner jealously that out of all people, Ray got to be with Gavin. They understood. Gavin imagined the paper hearts taped to the wall, and dangling from the ceiling, and the room having an over all pink glow. He thought about dancing with Ray, both of them too clumsy to dance well, but enjoying it anyways. He imagined the giant smile on Ray's face. But then he imagined the truth. He thought of the hatred and judging looks they would receive. His friends would leave him, not wanting to be associated with someone like him. His own thoughts started to make him feel sick. 

Gavin smiled cheekily. "We'll just have to wait and see which lucky girl catches my eye." 

"More like unlucky," Michael replied with a laugh. 

Gavin joked along and ignored his thoughts, pushing them away. 

 

 

Months passed, Ray and Gavin kept volunteering and seeing each other in secret. In school, things were exactly the same, they didn't talk, they were never seen with each other, no one would have guessed a thing. Sometimes Gavin would let himself stare at Ray during a class, but he didn't do it very often. When he did, Ray would do his best not to stare back, but he would make weird faces, which would force Gavin to hold back his laughter. Overall, they were okay. 

 

 

Ray laid his tray down on the table and rested his head on his hands. He was exhausted after having to stay up late trying to study for a big test, which he thought he failed, even with all of his extra studying. 

"You doing okay, bud?" Geoff asked as he sat down at the table. 

"I'm just having a bad day. I'm tired, and I think I failed my math test." 

Geoff nodded, and said, "You should come over tonight, we'll get the other two idiots to come, too, and we'll order pizza. That'll help." 

Ray smiled and nodded in agreement. When Jack and Ryan got to the table, they agreed to join and they started planning out the night. It was something to look forward to, but Ray continued to feel bad for the rest of lunch. He was so out of it that he didn't even wait for Geoff to take up his tray like he usually did, which was probably why he had trouble. 

Ray didn't pay much attention as he dumped his trash and put his tray away, so he didn't notice that there was someone right in front of him after he turned around and attempted to walk away. He walked straight into someone else's tray, and the owner of the tray along with it. The tray clanged onto the ground, spreading it's contents over the ground. Ray stumbled backwards, completely dumbstruck at what had happened, but the other person didn't move an inch. 

Ray tried to find his words so he could apologize, but was completely lost for words when he looked at the face of the person he ran into and saw it was Michael Jones. Along with the fear from seeing it was Michael to begin with, the fury that was on his face led to Ray's fear. 

"Watch where you're going fucking cocksucker, what they hell are you doing? And then you're not even going to apologize for it? You're a fucking asshole, what's wrong with you? Michael yelled at Ray, making him want to disappear. There was a reason why he always walked places with Geoff, and it was so he could protect him from things like this. 

"I'm sorry, I really didn't mean-" Ray started to apologize. 

"Don't fucking say you're sorry now, it's too fucking late," Michael commanded. 

"Michael, leave him be, he just wasn't looking where he was going. You've done that before, right? You should understand," A new voice said from beside Michael. 

Ray looked over and saw Gavin for the first time, absolutely amazed that Gavin was around and he didn't even know it. After awhile of dating, he had developed a bit of a Gavin sensor, so he usually knew the moment Gavin was within a certain radius of him. He obviously just wasn't paying enough attention to anything today. He was pleased to see that Gavin was there and defending him at that. He could almost feel himself swooning. 

"Shut the fuck up, Gavin, you're not in this. This is between me and dumbass over there. Unless you'd rather be on his side," Michael said. 

Gavin looked over at Ray, and Ray knew he could probably tell how scared Ray was, because they were that close, but he simply licked his lips and swiftly looked away from his boyfriend, over to Michael. "No. I'll just stay out of the way," Gavin said, instead of continuing to defend Ray, and stepped back, behind Michael. 

Ray stared at Gavin, amazed that he gave up so quickly. Ray and Gavin's relationship with Ray weren't enough for Gavin to be public with their relationship, Ray was aware of that, but he didn't know he wasn't even worth enough to defend from his best friend.Gavin could have stopped Michael, he could've insisted on him leaving Ray alone, and he would have after not too long. but he didn't, he just gave up to let Michael continue to harass Ray. He wouldn't even have had to say anything about them dating, but he didn't even try to do anything. Ray could almost feel his heart breaking. 

"He may not be on Ray's side but I sure as hell am," Geoff said, pushing his way through the small crowd that had gathered in hopes of a fight, and them pushing Michael back, to shield Ray from him. 

"Leave him alone, asshole, and I won't break your fucking nose," Geoff threatened. Before Michael could reply, Geoff grabbed Ray and started to pull him away. "Come on, buddy, let's get you out of here." 

Ray didn't notice Geoff's facial expression after that, but Geoff made sure that Gavin could not miss the knives in his eyes. Gavin sighed. 

Geoff did not only pull Ray out of the cafeteria, he pulled him out of the school, and to his house. "We're going to start our hanging out a little bit early." 

Ray tried to smile from his spot on Geoff's house, but instead of a smile, tears started rolling down his face. "God dammit," he said, wiping his face. 

Geoff just sat beside him and rubbed his back as Ray cried. Ray felt like an absolute baby, but he couldn't stop once he started. 

Ray started venting to Geoff, letting out everything he had been holding in. At one point, Ray said, "I fucking love Gavin, I love him so much, I haven't told him that, but I do. And sometimes, I think he feels the same, whenever we're alone, we're so perfect, it's amazing, he's amazing, but then things like today happen. I think today was the worst one ever, but still, it hurts, even when its when he pretends to not know my name at school. I completely understand why we can't be public, I get it, I have said that from the beginning, but I didn't know that this would hurt so fucking much. Sometimes I wonder if it's even worth it, but then he'll kiss me or smile and it makes butterflied flutter in my stomach, even know, and I know he's worth the trouble." 

Ray continued crying and babbling for a couple of hours, until he was finally burned out and began to fall asleep. Geoff got off the couch and told Ray to lay down and go to sleep. 

Ray suddenly sat back up, "Oh no, I can't, I have to volunteer tonight." 

Geoff stared at Ray with a questioning look. "Are you really up to going there?" 

"Well I can't not go-" Ray argued. 

"Could you go without bursting into tears as soon as you saw Gavin?" Geoff asked. 

Ray though for a few moments before shaking his head. "No, I guess not." 

He laid back down, and Geoff patted his arm. "Go to sleep, buddy, we can play games and pig out when you wake up." 

Ray was asleep ten minutes later, and as soon as Geoff was sure he was out, he called Jack. 

"Come pick me up, we're going to the youth center," Geoff ordered. 

"By we're, you mean?" Jack questioned. 

"Me, you, Ryan." 

"Got it," Jack said, understanding that there was a clear reason why Ray wasn't going. They would never admit that they didn't trust Gavin from the beginning, but from the day that Ray told his friends that he was dating the boy, they made a plan of what they would do if Gavin ever screwed up with Ray. And after Ray's tears, Geoff knew Gavin fucked up. 

 

 

Gavin got to volunteering early, which was especially stupid because he had to wait even longer for Ray to come in. He hadn't been in the History class that he and Gavin shared, and Gavin guessed that he left right after Michael's confrontation with him. Ray was very sure and confident of himself, funny and sarcastic, but he knew he was no match in almost any physical altercation, and Gavin could only imagine how scared he was. Gavin pushed back from the table and put his head in his hands. After his inability to properly protect Ray, Gavin had a feeling he might be out of luck. Ray was smart, and one of his weak moments was actually dating Gavin. Under normal circumstances, Ray would be too smart to let something like their relationship happen. Gavin guessed it was only a matter of time before Ray dumped his ass, and he deserved it, especially after that day. 

 

 

Geoff stormed into the youth center, Jack and Ryan trailing behind him. He walked right up to Sally, who was looking up in surprise at all the noise. 

"How may I help you?" She asked. 

"We're volunteering for Ray today," Geoff informed her. 

"I'm sorry, sir, that's not really how it works," Sally said. 

"I don't care, that's how it's going to be." 

Sally stared at them, and picked up on their determination. "Okay, boys. Gavin will explain how to sort the papers. It'll be the third door on the right down that hallway," Sally pointed toward a hallway, and they took off. 

"Hopefully there's no one else in the room. And the walls are at least somewhat thick. Wouldn’t want to cause a scene," Geoff said. 

Ryan laughed, "You're only intention is to cause a scene." 

"Well, kind of, but my real intention is to make sure Ray is happy and safe. He's the most important part," Geoff replied. 

Jack nodded in agreement. "Just don't kill his boyfriend. Even if he's an asshole and they break up, Ray will be happiest if he's alive, no matter what else happens." 

They reached the door, and Geoff wasted no time in throwing the door open. Gavin was sitting in the other end of the room with his head in his hands, and looked up hopefully when the door opened. The hope faded from his eyes when he saw that Ray wasn't there. Geoff didn't care. 

Geoff walked right up to the boy and grabbed the collar of his shirt and threw him into the wall behind him, more to get his attention than with the intent to actually beat him up. The action worked, Gavin was staring straight at Geoff, watching his every movement as he held him against the wall. 

"Okay, you're going to listen to me, and you're going to fucking think hard about what I say, got that?" Geoff said. 

Gavin nodded quickly. Ryan and Jack moved behind Geoff, looking a bit like henchmen. 

"You fucked up, and I hope to god you realize that. Ray is a fucking amazing kid, and he's put up with your shit long enough. I know he says he's fine with it, and almost all the time he is, but there are times like today when he's not fine with it, as he shouldn't be, because it's not fair to him. He doesn't deserve this. He deserves to be fucking showcased, you should be proud to have such an amazing boyfriend. And that's how he feels about you. He thinks you're absolutely wonderful, I hear about it all the time. I want to believe him that you're that way, the way he talks about, and not how you act at school, but every fucking time I see you, you make me doubt it. I have to wonder if you just fake everything when concerning Ray. And if that's how it is, leave him the fuck alone right now, because you're fucking dumb. but if you're as wonderful as Ray says, I want to fucking see it. I'm just saying, start treating Ray the way he deserves to be treated. If you don't, I will make sure he learns better, I won't let him continue to be treated like shit. But as I said, don't fake it, I will know if you're faking it, I will see right through you. So watch your steps. Do what's right," Geoff finished, letting go of Gavin and walking out of the room. 

Jack and Ryan stayed behind for a second. "Look, Gavin," Jack eventually said, "We don't know you, and no matter what Geoff says, he doesn't know you either. Ray, on the other hand, does. And I know he loves you. So maybe your awesome. You should just let the rest of the world find out." 

"Yeah, even if you're different, so is everyone else, deep down. And you can always find better people that way," Ryan added. 

They followed Geoff out after that, leaving Gavin alone with his thoughts. 

 

 

"Who are you taking to Prom?" Lindsay asked Gavin the next week. 

Gavin looked at his friends, the ones he really cared about. Lindsay was super sweet and amazing, Michael was easily angry, but also fiercely loyal, and Barbara was one of the most interesting and friendly people he had ever met. They were the only friends he was truly concerned about losing. He loved his friends, and he felt like he knew them well. But he wasn't sure they knew him as well. They didn't know the real him, they didn't know too much about one of his best friends, and he was starting to see how wrong that was. 

"I don't really want to go. Really, if I were to go, the only person I would be interested in taking is Ray, but at this point I'm not even sure he'd want me back. Bloody terrible situation there. Sorry to all the ladies, though, I feel as thought I've been dragging them along for quite awhile. Never meant to, was just kind of forced. Anyway, I should go talk to Ray now. Fix one of the most important parts of my life, right?" Gavin said, then waltzed off before anyone could reply. He felt as if the entire room was watching him, and he knew it was possible that quite a few were watching him. Where would he be going, getting up from the only table he had sat at through the entirety of high school, and walking to an area of the cafeteria he had only been in a few times before. 

He saw the table where Geoff, Jack, Ryan, and Ray were sitting, and fear grew in him at the sight of Geoff. But Ray and how important he was fueled Gavin's courage as he walked straight up to the table and sat right down next to Ray. 

Ray was sat right beside Geoff, with Ryan and Jack across from them. Regardless, all of them stared down Gavin intently. 

"'Ello there, I've been a bit of a prick recently, haven't I? I'm so sorry about that, Ray, you don't deserve that, and I can't keep doing that to you," Gavin promised. 

"So you'll actually talk to me in public now?" Ray asked, not in anyway expecting his day to take such a drastic turn. 

"No, I'm going to do a lot more than that," Gavin explained, and proved it by kissing Ray on the cheek. "I'm done, I give up on worry about my reputation over you. What does it matter if all the girls in the school don't have a crush on me? I don't like them, anyways. And yeah, it'll suck to lose my friends, but if they were real friends, they would've supported me, like your friends do." Gavin looked at Geoff as he said this, and while it was clear Geoff was still skeptical of Gavin, he also had a bit of affection toward the boy now that he was doing the right thing. 

Ray stared at Gavin, confused by all that was happening. "Is this real? Am I getting punked?" 

Gavin laughed, "Yes it's real, you knob. As long as you're okay with it, I'd like to start doing our relationship the right way." 

Ray nodded enthusiastically. "I would kind of love that." 

"It would scare the shit out of me, but so would I." 

Gavin stayed there, eating his lunch and listening to Ray's friends conversation. After how the treated him the other day, he didn't expect them to be so accepting of him sitting with him, but they were much nicer than he expected. 

The rest of the table could feel Ray cheering up almost instantly as he took things in. Eventually, he said something that was so funny and cute that Gavin had to grab his hand, just to feel his skin against his own. 

Gavin did his best to ignore the rest of the room, not wanting to face what he was sure would be coming after him. 

None of the people at the table expected to get anyone else showing up at their table out of nowhere, which was why they were surprised when three people sat at their table. 

"What?" Gavin asked. 

"You're an asshole," Michael said as he sat down across from Gavin. "Like, fuck, Gav, I'm your best fucking friend and you don’t think you can tell me things? You're so dumb." 

Gavin stared at his friends, lost for words. 

"You had me thinking the whole time that you were determined to end up alone, sometimes you would even hide things from us and I thought you didn't even want friends. It's so nice to know you actually have a reason," Barbara said. 

"You guys don't hate me?" Gavin asked. 

"Of course we don't, Gavin, we could never hate you, especially over something like this." Lindsay said. 

"Yeah, you're stuck with us," Michael added. 

Gavin smiled bright, and held Ray's hand even tighter. "This is Ray, guys, he's my boyfriend. He can kick you butt in almost any video game guaranteed." 

They continued on with various introductions until all names were known. Then lunch moved on, and it felt like they were always supposed to be like this. Gavin felt like it was right to be sitting surrounded by his best friends, and his boyfriend's closest friends, and being completely true about who he was. 

He leaned forward to capture Ray's lips, and Ray turned to make the kiss easier. Their lips slid pleasantly against each other, and neither paid attention to the fact that the kiss kind of tasted like cafeteria food. 

Gavin pulled back, but stayed close to Ray, so he could still fee his breath on his face. "This is the worst place to say this, but I'm pretty sure I love you," Gavin said. 

Ray just smiled, "You better. Luckily for you, I know I love you." 

Gavin smiled brightly. "Ray loves me," he boasted. 

Everyone laughed, and Ray and Gavin smiled like idiots.

**Author's Note:**

> This was fun to write and I needed to write something like this. After this fic, I'll try to stop making High School AUs. I just really love them, it's a problem. Thanks for reading!


End file.
